Corby won't contemplate a life behind bars

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Schapelle Corby feels terrified, confused and hurt, but she's
refusing to think about remaining behind bars for the next 20
years.

In her first major media interview since her conviction and
sentencing on May 27 for drug smuggling, Corby was yesterday
unwavering in her belief that she would be vindicated and set
free.

The 27-year-old Gold Coast woman is putting all her faith in an
appeal by her defence team after days of firing and rehiring her
Indonesian lawyers as well as a bitter row over money with one-time
supporter Ron Bakir. "I've been very confused lately. But now I
think I'm heading in the right direction," she said inside Bali's
run-down Kerobokan prison.

She's not concerned that Indonesian President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono has declared that he won't pardon convicted drug
offenders. "I've got a good team now. I won't be needing a pardon,"
she said.

She spoke about being, arguably, Australia's most famous
overseas prisoner. "It's like reality television," she said, her
carefully made-up face breaking into a smile before becoming
serious again. "It's scary, really scary, but I can't think about
what's happened. I have to stay positive.

"Sometimes, when I look around me, I can't believe I'm here. I
step outside myself, it's like it's not happening to me."

On Friday, Corby sacked her entire Indonesian legal team after
allegations that lead lawyer Lily Lubis and case co-ordinator Vasu
Rasiah had sought $500,000 from the Australian Government, partly
for bribing the Bali High Court judges who are considering her
appeal. Two days later, she rehired all but Ms Lubis and Mr Rasiah,
despite their denials of wrongdoing.

She said she felt betrayed by Gold Coast entrepreneur Ron Bakir
and her former Australian lawyer, Robin Tampoe, who have accused
her family of profiteering from her conviction.

Both men have had a very public falling-out with Corby's mother,
Rosleigh Rose. At the centre of the bitter row are the terms of a
contract Mr Bakir brought to Corby last year soon after he offered
to help her fight the drug-trafficking charges in Denpasar District
Court.

The contract gave him ownership of Corby's trademark and split
any future profits from its use 50-50 between himself and Corby,
she said. Among his ideas, she would write a book, a journal
describing a typical week inside prison and a song, she said.

But Mr Bakir, apparently incensed at the family's hostility
towards his money-making plans, ripped up the contract on May 30,
the last time Corby saw or spoke to him.

Since then she has learned about the war of words in the media
and wanted to set the record straight. "They are spreading lies
about my sister in the papers, when all my family has ever done is
support me. It hurts. It really, really hurts."

Her family had always fiercely resisted Mr Bakir's attempts to
make money out of her incarceration, she said.

"We knew from the start I had to pay back all the money, but
when I found out the amount, I couldn't understand how they had
spent that much," she said. "I thought it was a ridiculous
amount."

Corby confirmed comments that Mr Bakir told her during a visit
to the prison that she owed him $300,000 in legal costs. He has
previously denied trying to make money out of the Corby case.

· Indonesian police have finished their investigation into
three of the Bali nine suspects, giving evidence to the island's
prosecutor that will pave the way for their trial on drug charges
carrying the death penalty.

Bali police sources said that dossiers had been completed on
Martin Stephens, 29, of Wollongong, Michael Czugaj, 19, of
Brisbane, and Newcastle woman Renae Lawrence, 27.